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Episode 1.1
"What force could be strong enough to rip through the boundaries of Space and Time?": Cutter to Connor Synopsis An Anomaly appears in the Forest of Dean, leading to the late Permian period, 250 million years ago. The team track down a fierce Gorgonopsid that has come through. Plot In the car park of an ASDA near the Forest of Dean a Gorgonopsid comes out of the Forest of Dean into the supermarket car park. Dr. Helen Cutter, while searching for the creature, ends up on the run from it. She disappears into the Forest of Dean, and her body is never found... Eight years later,at the Central Metropolitan University, young palaeontology student Connor Temple approaches his tutor, Professor Nick Cutter, who takes Connor to his office and introduces his lab assistant Stephen Hart. Connor provides his dissertation that all earth life is descended from life that came from across space. Cutter abruptly slings it in a waste paper bin. He then shows Connor a fossilised Sarcopterygian, that should have been extinct for 70 million years and comments that he is interested in the finds that don't correllate with evolution. On that note, Connor convinces Nick and Stephen to go with him to investigate a recent unknown animal sighting. Initially disinterested, even when Connor remarks his wife wouldn't have ignored it, Cutter becomes intrigued when he hears the sighting was in the Forest of Dean. Upon further investigation, they find a articulated lorry with its trailer's side torn open by huge sharp claws and a nearby fence smashed down. Stephen concludes it must be a hoax, but Cutter is not so sure. In private, Stephen explains to Connor the Forest of Dean is where Cutter's wife Helen vanished without trace eight years before. Meanwhile nearby, at Wellington Zoo, the reptile house gets a routine call to collect an unknown lizard from a private house. Reptile keeper Abby Maitland, on the verge of losing her job, goes to collect it. The boy who found the lizard, Ben Trent explains that he found it in the Forest of Dean and that he identified it from books as the modern South-East Asian gliding lizard Draco volans. Abby sees at once that it is not, but a new species, and asks Ben to show her where he found it. Shortly afterwards, at a nearby hotel, Cutter is approached and kissed by a young woman. She apologises and explains she did so to dissuade a potential date. She then introduces herself as Claudia Brown, an employee of the Home Office sent to investigate the animal sighting. Cutter invites her to join the search; her involvement also gives conspiracy theory-obsessed Connor a field day. Abby gets Ben to show her where he found the lizard, named Rex. They find a dead cow lodged up a tree. Ben runs off, leaving Abby behind. Abby stumbles while trying to catch up and Rex gets loose and flies about. Rex then starts chirping in alarm and hides under the bushes, just as a large therapsid stalks past. It sniffs the bushes menacingly, but doesn't spot them. Meanwhile Ben, running through the forest, sees a strange sight: an area of fractured reflecting and refracting triangles, like shards of glass, counter-rotating in the air. Ben then gets scared and runs home, locking himself in his room. Meanwhile Abby, still lost in the woods, finds a Scutosaurus, and meets Nick, Connor, Stephen and Claudia who have also found the Scutosaurus. Connor is immediately delighted, but his excitment isn't shared by all: Abby is confused and Claudia horrifed at the implications. The Gorgonopsid, meanwhile, follows Ben home and pushes its head into Ben's bedroom. In panic he throws various things at it, and in the end tries to resist with a toy Star Wars lightsaber, which scares the Gorgonopsid off. Later the team arrive at Ben's house and hear his explanation: most of them don't appear to believe Ben, except for Cutter. They then return to the woods to look for the strange anomaly Ben claims to have seen. As they arrive, a Gorgonopsid comes out of the forest. It watches them, but doesn't attack. The frightened Scutosaurus flees back through the anomaly, leading them to it: Cutter deduces the anomaly must lead the creature back to its own time. Stephen and Connor are ordered to remain in the Forest of Dean to look for the predator while the others head for the Home Office. Abby and Cutter are made to sign the Official Secrets Act, and along with Claudia, have their first encounter with the person assigned to deal with the anomaly: James Lester. Lester and Cutter's first encounter doesn't go well, as each have severe misgivings regarding the other and different views about what is to be done with the anomaly: Lester is also unimpressed with Cutter's determination to uncover answers regarding the fate of his wife, by any means necessary. Meanwhile, Rex is examined there; under examination by various instruments, Rex takes wing and flies around in corridors, entering a lift and coming out at a top floor. Though he is about to fly away, Abby coaxes him back, as the world is no longer the one he is familiar with. Lester's scientists prove the Lizard is a living fossil and realize that the Scutosaurus and the strange lizard had to come from somewhere and that Ben's report of a world through the anomaly may be correct. Cutter theories the anomaly may lead to Earth in the late Permian period: he also believes his wife may be in the anomaly and informs Lester he will find out, whatever it takes to do so. Stephen and Connor, meanwhile, find a big reptilian footprint which is not a Scutosaurus's. Connor identifies the possible culprit as a Gorgonopsid, stating that its presence is "really bad news". He sends Stephen off to look for the Gorgonopsid. Ben is in detention at his school when the Gorgonopsid goes past outside. He tells the teacher that there is a dinosaur outside. The teacher ignores this remark. The Gorgonopsid attacks the school, and tramples down all attempts by the teacher to barricade against it, It traps her and Ben in a classroom and tries to head-butt the door down. Stephen then appears and tries to distract the beast. After a swift chase through the school corridors, the beast breaks out of the school and flees, leaving Stephen unconscious. Lester provides Cutter with permission to go through the anomaly: Cutter, to Lester's approval, also decides to return Rex through the anomaly, as the creatures should remain in their own time. Cutter, accompanied by the soldier, Captain Tom Ryan go through it, into an area of ash desert and conifer forest in the late Permian geological period; volcanos rumble and herds of Scutosaurus prowl in the distance. AFter releasing Rex, the pair explore their surroundings, finding to their amazement, remains of a human camp and a male human skeleton, and a camera marked "H(elen) C(utter)". Ryan remarks their allowed time in the anomaly is over and orders Cutter to come back to the modern age in time, as the anomaly is getting weaker, but Cutter wants to stay because he is desperate to find his wife. Ryan apologises, knocks Cutter unconcious with a pistol and carries him back towards the anomaly. Cutter gradually comes round, and resists with a fist fight, which Ryan wins. Cutter threatens to stay. Ryan says he will stay also to guard him. Not wanting another to be stranded there, Cutter relents and the two go back through the anomaly less than a minute before it closes. While most of the team are distracted by Cutter's return, Abby notices Rex also came back through and sneakily hides him. Suddenly, the Gorgonopsid emerges from the trees and attacks the group. Ryan and the other armed men shoot the animal but it takes no notice of the bullets and keeps killing. Suddenly, Claudia trips: Cutter goes back to help her, but they are left alone in the clearing with the Gorgonopsid advancing on them. Before it can kill them, Stephen comes out of nowhere and drives his SUV into it. The Gorgonopsid is only stunned, but as it tries to get back on its feet, Stephen and the soldiers finish it off. Back at the Home Office, the film from Helen's camera is developed, showing pictures of Helen in the ancient landscape, seemingly confirming that she is dead: however, Nick is not entirely convinced. Lester seems relieved the immediate crisis is over, but Cutter remarks this crisis is not over: it is only just beginning. After leaving and going back to his office, Cutter discovers a live ammonite on his desk. Racing outside, he sees 'Helen', who walks off into the night as he shouts after her. Cutter now faces the prospect his wife isn't as dead as he thought. Cast * Nick Cutter — Douglas Henshall * Abby Maitland — Hannah Spearritt * Stephen Hart — James Murray * Connor Temple — Andrew-Lee Potts * Claudia Brown — Lucy Brown * Helen Cutter — Juliet Aubrey * James Lester — Ben Miller * Captain Tom Ryan — Mark Wakeling * Ben Trent — Jack Montgomery * Mary Trent — Gail Kemp * Ben's teacher — Jane Cameron * Tim Parker — John Voce * Dave Greene — Mike Goodenough Continuity *Rex the Coelurosauravus becomes a recurring charcter in the series. *A Scutosaurus return in Episode 2.6 and Episode 2.7. *A Gorgonopsid returns in Episode 1.6. *When the Gorgonopsid is chasing the team, it grabs a soldier and hauls him out of the way and as the man is in mid-flight, he screams the famous Wilhelm Scream. Ratings 6.7 million (29%) This is the highest audience figure of all the Episodes broadcast so far. Errors *The Coelurosauravus is shown being capable of level flight, when it could only glide. *Cutter is shown counting the ribs of the skeleton to determine its gender. However that originates from a myth, male and female human skeletons do not differ in their number of ribs. **''He was possibly in denial at the time, as he originally thought it was Helen and then said it was a man.'' *Gorgonopsids are actually called Gorgons, Gorgonopsia or Gorgonops. External link * Episode Guide on itv.com 1.1, Episode